Virgin Trains 'binmen' were in Coventry today (30 May 2007) as part of a major campaign to make rail fares more transparent and also raise awareness of the value for money of rail travel. They also highlighted that on some days Virgin Trains wastes up to 10,000 cheap tickets across the country because they are not bought. That could mean some passengers are paying more than they need to for their train travel.

Prices for Value Advance single fares from Coventry start from just £8 (to Oxford) and from £12 to selected South Coast destinations. Standard Value Advance single fares from Coventry to London start from £10, with First Class Value Advance single fares starting at £29.50.

During the promotion at Coventry's busy railway station, a lucky dip gave away 'top tips' cards for getting a bargain rail ticket. Some of the cards were also winners with pairs of First Class rail travel tickets on offer and a mega-prize of a months unlimited First Class travel on Virgin Trains for two.

Following a report by the Commons Transport Committee, which stated that "fares structures are chaotic and pricing absurd", Virgin is kick-starting a campaign to communicate its clear pricing of fares. In fact, despite the widely-held opinion that travelling by train is more costly than other modes of transport such as flying or by car, there is widespread availability of cheap, value-for-money tickets.

Buying a ticket for travel with Virgin Trains is now simplicity in itself. Following the switch-on of a new website, prospective passengers are presented with the cheapest advance purchase - or walk-up - fares which are available for the journey and at the time of their choice. No longer are all fares shown, irrespective of whether they are available or not.

In a separate development, passengers who are unable to buy a Virgin Advance ticket for both the outward and return journeys, or want flexibility on one leg of the journey, are now able to mix and match ticket types and buy a Saver Half Return (at half the price of a Saver Return) for one leg of the journey. This money saving facility is available to website bookings only.

There is still a perception that rail fares are expensive and a recent survey by watchdog Passenger Focus revealed that only 58% of rail passengers using Virgin Trains services felt they were getting value for money.

Contrary to these passenger perceptions, Virgin Trains releases an average of 50,000 Value Advance tickets every day. Many of these heavily discounted tickets can be bought up to 18.00 the day before travel. These tickets already sell at the rate of one every two-and-a-half seconds! And the Value Advance ticket range starts from under £10 single!

On Value Advance tickets, a recent issue of Industry magazine RAIL said: "For passengers the savings to be had are huge - literally a three-figure sum in many instances.. There are some fantastic deals out there to be had"

However, research shows that around 20% of these tickets are going unsold, meaning some rail passengers are paying more than they need to. Many other people, unaware of the bargain tickets available, are simply not making the journeys to see friends, families and for other leisure activities that they would like to.

Virgin Trains has always taken steps to making ticket-buying cheaper and simpler, having been the first train operator to introduce one-way tickets, introducing the simplest rail website to ease ticket-buying and working with the consumer group, Passenger Focus, to produce leaflets on buying cheap tickets. Furthermore, Virgin is also intending to extend the trail of a brand new e-ticketing system - print@home.

Virgin Trains Commercial Director, Graham Leech, explains: "We're committed to providing a high-quality, value-for-money service to our customers, but with around 10,000 Value Advance fares left unsold every day, it's clear that many of our passengers, and potential passengers, are still unaware of how much they could be saving. In reality, passengers can travel on Virgin Trains cheaply and in comfort thanks to our Value Advance tickets. We want to show people how to find the best value tickets available and how easy it really is to book, particularly online. More importantly, travel by train is also environmentally friendly. We know that our people care about the environment and they can travel with us in the knowledge that by choosing to travel by train, they are doing their bit to save the planet and reduce consumption of energy. Our Pendolino trains emit at least 76 per cent less CO2 than cars and planes, so the message is Go Greener, Go Cheaper and travel with Virgin Trains."

The simplification of the Virgin Trains website has been praised by Passenger Focus. Chief Executive Anthony Smith said: "There are some great deals on fares out there, but many passengers are telling us that the current ticketing system is too complicated to navigate. There is a clear need to simplify the way tickets are sold to help passengers take advantage of the cheaper tickets. Any move to simplify websites is a step in the right direction."